When the former USA president took a Sharpie marker and redrew a hurricane forecast map to cover up a mistake he’d made, my family were more than amused. Turns out my distaste for admitting a mistake is a favourite joke in our family. Rather than forcing me to admit that I may not have been […]
Category: Strategy
Trim the Portfolio
This month’s newsletter (video here) is about Coke trimming their portfolio. The leader of Coke Asia – Shakir Moin kicked off more than a few of our SABRE Coke Asia programs in Shanghai. He moved to Atlanta to head up Coke’s Portfolio management team – this story is a direct outcome of Shakir’s work. It’s […]
A Covid Christmas Story… With a Bit of Strategy
This month’s is a little Christmas Story Cam created to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. Here’s to a better 2021! A Covid Christmas Twas the night before Christmas, Santa at the North Pole Scratching his white beard, staring hard at the snow With Covid on the loose would Christmas still be on? Or […]
Mike on Strategy
Consider these facts: In the last 100 years there have been 17 recessions Each of those recessions lasted approximately 12 months Of the firms in the top quartile in their industry 20% drop to the bottom quartile 17% of firms go bankrupt The most common reaction to a recession is to cut marketing spending The […]
Dear Stephen…
Dear Stephen Thanks for sharing the strategic plan presentation. Here are my initial impressions and some early suggestions. Focus on outcomes. The presentation tells me a lot about what you do, but after reading it I’m really struggling to find out what you’re going to do for me? (Not me, but you know….) What do […]
Lost in translation
Anyone remember the Mars Orbiter disaster back in 1999? A 125 million dollar space shot to Mars disintegrated on impact because two project teams didn’t speak the same language even though they both lived in the same country. As it turned out the Jet Propulsion team based in California were speaking metric, (think millimeters and […]
Social issues … Business traps
The more successful a company becomes the more resistant it becomes to change. But when change comes that could destroy your business model it’s wise to pay attention early and get ahead of the curve. Hoping for the best is never a good strategy. In the 1991 three killer whales performing in a show in […]
HBO Sopranos
We’re all watching TV these days and it has become a major battle for your eye balls. Networks like HBO, Disney, Crave, Netflix (‘Net fix’ in our household) Amazon, Hulu and others are trying to outdo the other in creative content. But where did this craze all start? Television in the 1970’s 80’s and 90’s […]
Packer Sweep
Are the resources of your business aligned with the opportunities in this ‘new’ market? In times of crisis you have to go back to the basics. Find a simple path forward and follow it. Coach Vince Lombardi exemplified this strategy when he took over the Green Bay Packers football team on February 2, 1959. At […]
Finding Hope
Back in the early 1980’s I started my consulting career teaching small business finance. Ronald Reagan was president, interest rates soared to over 20% and unemployment was approaching 35% in the small city in which I was living. Two men who owned an appliance store signed up for my course. Both had worked at the […]
